Download Festival 2012 in photos

Download Festival 2012 was a big year, as the Donington bash celebrated its tenth anniversary, headlined by The Prodigy, Metallica and Black Sabbath.

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One punter shows off her excitement for Black Sabbath’s festival-closing set.

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Sunday at Download 2012 was all about reunions – Black Sabbath closed out the festival, with Ozzy Osbourne telling the crowd: “When we first formed 40 odd years ago, I had no idea we’d be here doing this.”

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Chris Cornell joined the rest of Soundgarden to play their first UK show in 15 years at Download 2012.

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Soundgarden drew on tracks from across their career, with ‘Fell On Black Days’ and ‘Black Hole Sun’ proving particular hits. Beyond that the show was relatively standard, although ‘The Day I Tried To Live’ drew singalongs from some quarters.

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A few colourful Download attendees.

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Megadeth took to the Jim Marshall/Main Stage on Sunday evening, ahead of Soundgarden and Black Sabbath.

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Megadeth performed on the final day of Download 2012.

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A couple of festival-goers at the tenth annual Download Festival.

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Anthrax also played on the final day of Download Festival 2012.

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Anthrax playing on the Jim Marshall/Main Stage.

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Anthrax playing at Download 2012.

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NME caught up with Soundgarden’s Chris Cornell backstage.

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A view of the festival site on the final day of Download 2012.

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Sunday at Download Festival 2012.

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The final day of the festival meant mid-day nap time.

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A few punters were more excited about the nice weather than most…

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Hawk Eyes snapped backstage, following their Sunday evening set on the Red Bull Bedroom Jam Stage.

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Festival-goers enjoy the sunshine and a mud-free field on Sunday.

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We Are The Ocean played on the Zippo Encore Stage early Sunday afternoon.

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Download 2012

Metallica headlined Saturday night at Download 2012, playing their famous 1991 eponymous album, commonly known as ‘The Black Album’, in its entirety amongst numerous other well-known tracks including ‘For Whom The Bell Tolls’ and ‘Master Of Puppets’.

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Download 2012

Before playing ‘The Black Album’, the band left the stage while VT footage was screened from throughout their career, incorporating old news reels and photos of the band over the years.

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Download 2012

Hetfield returned on stage wearing a jacket with the name of Sunday night’s headliners, Black Sabbath, emblazoned on the back.

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Download 2012

Metallica finished their set with fireworks, balloon balls and a rendition of their early single ‘Seek And Destroy’.

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A somewhat sunny day at Download Festival 2012.

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Corey Taylor played on the Pepsi Max Stage on Saturday. He also joined Steel Panther on stage, joining them in ‘Death To All But Metal’.

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Punters at Download Festival 2012.

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That guy on the right might want to brush his teeth after licking a muddy wellie.

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Biffy Clyro showcased material from their forthcoming new double album during their Saturday performance. Simon Neil also found time to big up tonight’s headliners Metallica, declaring “Four words: birth, school, Metallica, death. We saw that band 20 years ago and it changed our lives.”

Although Saturday saw no rain, the mud was thick enough to pull a few punters down.

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Lower Than Atlantis played on the Zippo Encore Stage on Saturday afternoon.

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Who knew metallers also had a soft spot for One Direction?

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Day one of Download Festival 2012 closed out with a headline set from The Prodigy, who took a moment to wish the bash a “Happy Anniversary” to mark its tenth year.

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The Prodigy arrived onstage 20 minutes late to the tune of the national anthem, before launching into ‘World’s On Fire’ and ‘Breathe’.

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“Every time we come we come fresh” Maxim announced ahead of playing Voodoo People’, “this one’s for you in the rain”.

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The Prodigy played a mix of old and new tunes, including fan favourites ‘Poison’, ‘Omen’ and ‘Firestarter’.

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Earlier in the day things got off to a slow start as the rain and mud forced organisers to delay the opening of the main arena by nearly two hours, cancelling the slots of bands including Rise To Remain. Cancer Bats were forced to reschedule their set to later at night, following Gallows.

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Rise To Remain Tweeted about the cancellation: “We apologise to everyone who wanted to see us at download today – it was out of everyone’s control, it couldn’t be helped. But, we swear…….next time we play in the UK, we will give you all a show to remember! Good luck to everyone else this weekend”.

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Chase and Status proved the negative online message boards wrong with their high energy performance, as fans were even forming circle pits in the back of the crowd.

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Machine Head played the last full metal set of the night, seeing punters dressed as Smurfs crowdsurf to the likes of ‘Aesthetics of Hate’ and ‘Locust’ from the new album ‘Unto The Locust’.

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Despite the muddy fields, punters enjoy watching Machine Head from the front of the crowd.

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Machine Head played a late afternoon slot on the Main Stage.

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Nope, it’s not Glasto. Download 2012 saw more mud than it’s used to.

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Opeth played on the Zippo Encore Stage on Friday, right before Nightwish and Slash.

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Despite the fact that Friday night’s fancy dress theme was zombie attire, there were quite a few Jokers present.

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A few metallers (with matching wigs) bypassing the port-a-loo queue.

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Might not be the best weather condition for chairs at Download 2012.

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NOFX played a frenetic set on the Jim Marshall stage, declaring themselves “the Grateful Dead of punk rock” before slipping into the reggae-inspired ‘Eat The Meek’.

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NOFX finished their Friday afternoon set with fan favourite ‘Kill All The White Man’.

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Punters find a rare bit of non-muddy field.

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Day one of Download Festival saw lots of rain and lots of mud. Despite the day’s start being pushed back a bit due to the weather and a few band cancellations, everything else ran smoothly.